The Farmer's Daughter: The Dragon Dream: Book One

by Robin Janney

  She was spinning slowly in the air, rising gently as a glorious light surrounded her. The knight was in awe of the miraculous transformation taking place as she rose back to him. His Angel was being healed. The bruises were fading, cuts closing. Her wings once again stretched wide behind her, their feathers white and full. Her hair was again a wild auburn halo around her head. Her dress was whole again, covering her as it clung to her. Its blue-rainbow hue caught the light, and she shone with the brilliance of a raging inferno. As she came to a rest on the roof in front of him, the light fading to tolerable levels…he could see the completeness of her restoration as her beautiful blue eyes mirrored the smile on her face.

  “Angel.” It was a whisper, a verbal caress.

  She reached out and ran her fingers along the rough line of his jaw. “You’ve changed,” his Angel whispered, her voice full of more emotions than he ever thought possible.

  “So have you…”

  No more words were spoken as the knight pulled her close to him and his lips found hers. Her arms wrapped around him, and the world exploded around them…

  C raig awoke with a start, sitting up in bed. His heart was racing, but it wasn’t in fear. His dream had changed. He didn’t have a clue what these changes meant, but it didn’t matter now. He took it for the hope it was.

  Checking the time, he saw he’d barely slept for five hours. He felt far from rested but climbed out of bed.

  The dream had been vivid, as they usually were, but Craig decided to wait on calling his friend Kevin. Princess seemed agitated still, and he wondered if she was picking up on his worry for Angela. After doing her business in the yard, the dog sat in front of the door as if she was on guard. It took some convincing to get her back inside.

  After checking in at the store, he spent the remaining time before Philip picked him up to work on sketching the Angel he had seen in the most recent dream.

  When three o’clock came, he climbed back into Philip’s truck with a travel mug of fresh coffee in his hand.

  “The good news is Angela’s been moved out of ICU and into a regular room,” Philip began as he backed out of Craig’s driveway.

  “Is there bad news to go with that?”

  “Not exactly bad. Her fever hasn’t broken. It’s hovering around 101.6 but Miles thinks the worst is over.”

  Craig sighed in relief. “Does that mean the hallucinations and flashbacks are over?”

  “They should be.” Philip waved to Maggie Witherspoon as they passed at the intersection.

  “And Angela has no idea she has no secrets from you two?”

  “Nope. We’ve asked her a few times, what she remembers from during the fever. It’s spotty, at best. The only one she usually remembers is Dr. Evans, because he looks like the Jesus she saw when she was four. Something about his eyes. But even those are bits and pieces. Craig, she probably won’t remember anything you said to her about your stepmother, or you saying you loved her.”

  “I know. I had to repeat myself a few times during the night.” In a way, it had been a cathartic release every time he’d told her why he’d left her on New Year’s Eve. Each time he’d told her, her reaction had been the same…concern for him and horror at what had been done to him. He was pretty sure she’d even promised to kill his abuser one day.

  “Do you know she’s been receiving harassing phone calls?”

  Craig whipped his head to look over at the other man. “No.”

  “She mentioned something to me about them just before Thanksgiving. I may have used her fever against her this morning to see if they were still happening and if she knew who it was yet. The most I could get out of her was that he likes to call after you leave. I should have asked when the fever was higher.”

  “I asked her once about her door not having a lock and if she felt safe,” said Craig, looking back out the truck window. He braced himself as the truck came to a sliding stop along the side of the road.

  “What do you mean my daughter’s door doesn’t have a lock?” demanded Philip, with startling intensity.

  “According to her, none of the Dodge’s apartments do. He wouldn’t even let her install a simple chain lock.”

  “That’s insane!”

  “Tell me about it,” Craig said in agreement.

  Philip’s sigh didn’t sound like it had released anything in him. He sat there visibly stewing. “How did she answer your question? About feeling safe?”

  “Ah, that her bedroom windows have locks, and she usually keeps them locked, but if she gets too scared, she takes a kitchen chair and shoves it under the door handle.” Like it had been yesterday morning. “Oh God, it didn’t hold. Yesterday morning when I broke in to apologize whether she wanted me to or not…there was a chair under the door. It didn’t even slow me down.”

  His girlfriend’s father took a deep breath. “I will fix that before she comes home. Dodge can complain all he wants, but she’s going to get a doorknob with a lock and a deadbolt.”

  Craig made a relieved sound. “I’ve wanted to do the same, but I didn’t want to overstep. I’m pretty new to the entire relationship thing.”

  “But you’re ready to be her husband?”

  The bluntness in Philip’s eyes challenged him. “I will be by the time she’s well enough to say yes. I don’t think that will be today.”

  “Good point.” Philip relaxed and pulled back out onto the road. “Never be afraid to ask for advice, son, because you have our blessing.”

  “Good. Can I ask you about the farm then? What happened?”

  Philip made an embarrassed sound. “I got too much on credit a few years ago, overextended the finances and had to mortgage the farm. We’ve never been able to bounce back. Banks don’t like it when you miss payments. I’m still not certain how Angela convinced the bank to work with her.”

  “It doesn’t take much,” said Craig. “I have a hell of a time saying no to her. It’s how I ended up at the Christmas Eve service.”

  “I suspect it’s how you’ve ended up in love with her,” laughed Philip. His smile was indulgent. “Although, now that I think about it – I have the same problem. Just after she turned four, before the hot dog incident, she asked for a kitten. We were still living in the city then, and it wasn’t a pet friendly neighborhood. But even then, I couldn’t stand the sight of my little girl crying, so I got her one.”

  “What happened to it?”

  “Orangie, as she was called, died about seven years ago. She was a hardy cat. Made the transition to farm life almost as easily as the kids did. She was Angela’s shadow.” Philip made an amused sound. “God knows, I hated that cat. Would walk around the house crying when Angela was at school.”

  Craig chuckled at the thought. The hospital was in sight and he hadn’t had all the conversation he had wanted with the other man. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, Philip. I’d like a chance to talk with you more about the farm. If you and your wife are willing, I’d like to pay off your mortgage or buy the farm from you if possible. That way Angela doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. She can stay in school and keep her job.”

  “That’s very generous, Craig.” Philip pulled into a parking spot near where Craig’s own truck was parked. “But I can’t let you put yourself in debt, not even out of love for my daughter.”

  “Ah, Philip. I don’t know how to say this. I wouldn’t be going into debt. I’d be able to pay outright.”

  Philip did a double take as he shut the truck down. “You can’t possibly know that.”

  “Actually, yeah, I can.”

  The other man shifted in his seat suddenly. He could almost see the dots connecting in Philip’s eyes. “Are you shitting me, young man?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “That bracelet you gave Angela at Christmas…were those real diamonds?”

  Craig nodded his head.

  “Does she have any idea?”

  He shrugged, a tad uncomfortably. “I doubt it. Do you think it’ll matter to
her?”

  “It’ll throw her when she finds out. But if you handle it right, it shouldn’t matter.” Philip sat back in his seat, looking out at the hospital building. “I’ll talk it over with Maude tonight. We’ll have questions. How about we meet at the Pancake House tomorrow, around noon? They have a great lunch buffet.”

  “That’ll be fine. But…I don’t exactly have a good track record of handling things right with Angela.”

  Philip’s laugh was hearty. “Like you said, you’re new to relationships. You’ll get it figured out.”

  “I hope so.”

  39

  “T

  hank you, sweet baby Jesus!”

  Craig raised his eyebrows at Judy and smiled. She’d been Angela’s dayshift aide since day one, and he’d been mildly surprised the two women had already known each other. “That bad?”

  “Angela is miserable! Nothing pleases her! She doesn’t want to watch television or read. She’s constantly trying to get out of bed despite the alarm we’ve attached to her and she’s not ready for that!” The young aide shifted the magazines she was carrying. “She’s managed to drive her family away today. So far, you’re the only one…I shouldn’t be saying any of this!” She sighed. “Even Aunt Maeve gave up earlier today.”

  Nodding, Craig adjusted Angela’s backpack on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I talked to her dad earlier and know the truth of what you’re saying. I’ve brought Angela some of her homework, so that might help. She’s been pretty anxious about school.”

  “Just, don’t let her overdo it.”

  “I won’t.”

  Judy nodded and took the magazines into another patient’s room.

  Unsure how today’s visit was going to go, he braced himself before continuing down the hallway. Angela was still hurting over New Year’s Eve and he’d had to tell her several different times why he had done what he had. After talking with both Philip and Kevin, he decided he needed to do more than remind her. He needed to show her he’d changed and was willing to make more changes. It wasn’t just her schoolwork in the bag slung over his shoulder.

  The door to her room was ajar, so Craig didn’t bother knocking. Pushing it the rest of the way open, he saw Judy had indeed been right about Angela sneaking out of bed. The woman in question stood on the far side of the room, the late afternoon sun silhouetting her body through the fabric of the thin nightgown her mother had brought in for her to wear instead of the hospital gowns. Now, as much as he admired her form, this wasn’t going to do.

  He cleared his throat uncomfortably, shutting the door behind him anyway. “You aren’t supposed to be out of bed,” he said as he placed her backpack on the end of the hospital bed.

  Angela glanced over her shoulder at her visitor, unaware of what the sun was doing. “I just wanted to see out.”

  “Still, I think the doctor knows best.” Craig picked up the silky robe Maude had brought to go along with the nightgown and carried it across the room. He gestured pointedly enough for her to understand and she blushed.

  “Sorry,” she said, pulling the robe on. She knotted the ties around her waist viciously. “I’m just tired of being in bed.”

  “I know, Angel. But you need to stay there a little longer. Now, do you get back in yourself, or do I put you there?” He didn’t think she looked strong enough to even be standing.

  Angela opened her mouth, no doubt to protest, but she shut it without another word. Surveying the distance between the bed and window, she sighed. She held a hand out to him. “I’m sorry, but could you help me?”

  Craig surprised her by wordlessly scooping her into his arms and carrying her across the room. He placed her in the center of the bed.

  She pulled the covers over herself quickly. “Why do you keep coming here?”

  The forlorn tone in her voice broke his heart a little. “Because I’m your boyfriend, and this is what boyfriends do,” he managed to say lightly. He sat on the edge of her bed at her feet. He managed to give her a crooked smile as he asked, “Why? Do you want me to stop coming?”

  There was no hesitation to her head shake. “No, it’s just…I’m so confused. And I hate you seeing me this weak. I hate being this weak.”

  She was surprised when he reached out and took her arm in his hands. Running his fingers over the different bruise marks left by the IV’s, he kept his touch gentle. He saw the fire he’d kindled in her eyes when he met her gaze. “Are they sore?”

  “A little.”

  “How much do you remember between New Year’s and waking up in the hospital?”

  The young woman bit her lip as she thought. “I remember avoiding you because I was afraid you were going to break up with me. And then I looked at your sketchbook and we fought. I think I remember you knocking on my door, but I was already in bed and didn’t want to move. I…kind of remember calling you and my professors. Professor Bailey was not impressed.”

  “I’ve talked with him. He’s a little difficult.”

  Angela nodded her head, pushing hair away from her face. “Did you come hoist me over your shoulder?”

  “I did.” He gave her a nod.

  Her forehead furrowed. “It gets really fuzzy after that. There’s more fuzziness than clear. I know you said we talked, and I believe you – I just don’t remember all of it.” Tears leaked from Angela’s eyes and she brushed them away with a sound of frustration. “I’m so sorry for what happened to you.”

  “I know, but that’s not why I asked you what you remember. I asked because I want you to understand that right now, you’re stronger than when I found you. I’m pretty sure you almost died on us. That first day, I was by your side as often as allowed. I left only once to tend to Princess and give a key to Nora so she could walk her for me later. I didn’t even go to the store until the day after.”

  “You spent the night here?”

  “I did. The last time I was in your room, I fell asleep with my head on your bed and your mother woke me when they got here.”

  “How…how much were they here?” Her forehead furrowed again.

  “Just as much as I was. Your dad took your mom home in the afternoon, but he came back for a few hours.”

  “Craig, I need you to answer something for me truthfully. Please?”

  Her breathing was picking up its pace, despite a lingering wheeze, and he worried about what was coming next. He had no clue, this was a new conversation from the past few days. So far, she’d needed less explained to her than yesterday. He took it as a sign she was growing stronger. “Always.”

  “Do…did I say anything I shouldn’t have? Do I say things to hurt my parents?”

  He hesitated, but he’d promised to answer truthfully. It might be what she needed to start making some closure in her life. “I think you say things you wouldn’t be able to normally. Some of those things hurt your parents. Hey, hey, look at me.” He cupped her face, meeting those agonized blue eyes.

  “No, no, no…What do I say Craig? They always look so sad after I’ve had a fever, but they never tell me the truth.”

  He made a frustrated sound. They hadn’t wanted Angela to know, and he’d agreed to keep their secrets, but on some level she was aware. And his promise to her just now overruled the one he’d made to them. “I think it’s safe to say, everything you’re afraid to talk to them about, everything you don’t want them to know…they know.”

  Her face crumpled, and the anxiety was replaced with sorrow. “No. Oh no…”

  He slid up the bed and pulled her into an embrace. He breathed deeply as she cried into his shoulder.

  “Everything?”

  He smoothed her hair. “Probably.”

  “Why do they keep me?”

  “Because they love you. I can’t begin to describe how much, Angel. You flashed back to your senior prom a couple different times. It took both your dad and me to calm you down, to remind you it was over. Your mother was devastated to learn the truth. She was crying a lot like you are now. I think even your dad
had tears in his eyes when he was holding her. She said…” He chuckled suddenly. “Your mother said if she ever ran into Derek again, it wouldn’t be your father he had to worry about.”

  “She…she said that?”

  “Mmmhmm.”

  She shuddered in his embrace. “I never…I never thought she’d believe me. She never liked my prom dress because of how much skin it showed. I always thought she’d say it was my fault.”

  “I can’t comment on that one. She never mentioned it. But she definitely blames him. Maybe herself a little bit too.” He wondered if her shivering was from her emotions or if she was cold. “Angela, are you cold?”

  “A little.” She pulled back, wiping her face. “It…it might be easier to talk to them, if they already know and love me anyway.”

  He grabbed the tissue box from her tray table and placed it in her lap. “I am really glad to hear you say that.” When she looked at him in confusion, he added, “Angel, honey, these things have been eating you alive from the inside out. I think it will help you if you can talk about them. It’s helped me.”

  “How?” She blew her nose, coughing a little. It didn’t sound half as painful as it had just a few days ago.

  “I’ve been talking with my friend Kevin a lot more since a night I was very close to killing myself. He drove to my place in the middle of the night, to make sure I didn’t still do it. Something broke in me that night. I call him about twice a week. Some of it’s just two friends talking, but when I need him to, he slips into what we call doctor mode.”

  She nodded. “I don’t know when I can do it. I’m exhausted just from crying right now.”

  “No one will rush you. They haven’t in all these years. Except maybe for someone called ‘Burn Hard’ whom I believe you said could ‘burn hard in hell’.”

  Angela laughed weakly. “Burnhart. Yeah, we didn’t get along.”

  “So I gathered.”

  “Did I see you bring my backpack?”

  “Yes. Your dad and I were putting locks on your apartment door and we went through your college information. I’ve talked to your professors. Bailey was the only one who wanted to give me a hard time, but I was able to talk him around. None of them will count these absences against you. If you want to stay enrolled, they’ll all help you pass.”